I move:
That the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport calls on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to implement the actions called for in the motion regarding Bus Éireann passed by Dáil Éireann on 2nd February 2017;
Take more determined actions to prevent nationwide industrial action at Bus Éireann and;
Agree to the establishment of a forum to deal with policy related issues that are pertinent to the industrial dispute and the financial state of Bus Éireann and that fall outside the remit of the Workplace Relations Commission.
I am seeking cross-party agreement to support this motion. It calls on the Minister to implement the actions of the motion put to the Dáil on 2 February. It is now almost two months from that decision and the situation in Bus Éireann has got progressively worse.
We know there is a board meeting this morning in Bus Éireann with the possibility of implementing unilateral cuts without the agreement of the unions. The consequences of such action will see a nationwide strike. A strike has the potential to cause losses of up to €500,000 per day and is not going to benefit anyone, whether the company, the workers or the tens of thousands of people who rely on Bus Éireann on a daily basis to get to work, college, medical appointments or whatever.
To date the Minister has been slow to provide leadership and guidance. I accept that we have an arm of the State, the Workplace Relations Commission, to negotiate between unions and management in respect of the terms and conditions of the workers. However, what the Minister does not seem to accept is that the losses that have accumulated at Bus Éireann during recent years are not as a consequence of the actions of the workers. The unions have agreed to implement cost efficiencies to help to address the deficit, but the €30 million deficit that needs to be addressed cannot be dealt with, nor should the Minister expect it to be dealt with, through the Workplace Relations Commission.
I will outline what needs to happen. As stipulated and clearly outlined in the motion of 2 February of this year, we need to look at how the social protection contract is paid. We need to look at the subvention that is being paid. Moreover, there needs to be a full review into how licences are issued to private contractors. That has not happened to date.
The Minister has said that he has no problem talking to the people after an agreement has taken place at the Workplace Relations Commission. Now, we are looking at a situation whereby, within the coming weeks, if a solution is not agreed then Bus Éireann could be insolvent. People talk about trying to bolt the door when the horse has gone. That is what this Minister is doing. We need to send a clear message from this committee that the Minister needs to engage with the key stakeholders on this issue. The key stakeholders are the National Transport Authority, the management of Bus Éireann, the unions representing the workers and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. These parties need to engage to ensure that the structural changes being put forward are agreed and can be implemented without delay. One thing is sure: any plan that emanates from the management without the agreement of the unions is not going to work. If a plan does not work, then all we are doing is pushing the problem further down the line.
I call on the members of the committee to support this motion. We should write to the Minister and make the case that this committee reaffirms the decision taken by the majority of the Dáil on 2 February 2017 and that the Minister should establish a forum without delay and engage all the key stakeholders to ensure that a resolution is brought to bear quickly.
It was remiss of me not to point out before now that this is not something that has taken place over night or over recent weeks. The precarious financial situation that Bus Éireann finds itself in has been known to this Minister and was known to the previous Minister for in excess of 12 months, but no action has been taken. The Minister continues to take little or no action. Now is the time for the Minister to bring the key stakeholders together and come up with a holistic approach rather than try to say the deficit facing Bus Éireann can be resolved through the WRC. It cannot.